PPAs are not "problematic". They're a way some software is distributed by its
developers, utilizing Canonical's infrastructure. They're no different in
function from any other Debian repository; it's just that it's far more
common for software developers to create and maintain PPAs than for them to
create and maintain custom repositories for Debian (probably because PPAs are
easier, though I'm not entirely sure).
The only problem with PPAs is that they're Ubuntu-specific, so if some
software developer only distributes binaries via a PPA, that's detrimental to
the users of all other GNU/Linux distros. But that's a reason not to only
distribute binaries via a PPA. It's not a reason to not use PPAs when they're
available.
> Why can't there be a way of selecting the PPA source, so to speak? For
example, with GIT, the format is git://some.url. Why can't it be
ppa:some.url/repo?
Just to reiterate, PPAs are nothing more than custom APT repositories,
exactly the same kind of thing as this:
https://jxself.org/linux-libre/
The only difference with PPAs from the end-user's perspective is that they're
all hosted on Canonical's servers and are easier to add as a result.
> To be honest if you want the newest software it is better to use Debian
unstable.
If you're going with an unstable system, you might as well use Parabola.
